Keyword: covid-19

President Macron said a status called “died in the service of the republic” would be created to honour public employees who lose their life “in exceptional circumstances”.

It is the first time the number of Covid ICU patients has been below 4,000 since March 11, health ministry data showed.

The French government has succeeded with its target of ensuring that 20 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered by mid-May,  with the next stage being the administration of a total 30 million doses by mid-June.

A food distribution point for university students in Perpignan, southern France. © Jeanne Mercier/Hans Lucas/Hans Lucas via AFP

The social repercussions of the Covid-19 crisis have deepened the conditions of poverty in which around 9 million people in France were already living before its onset, and has tipped a significant number of others below the poverty line, according to a study commissioned by the French government. Published this week, it warns of a ‘timebomb’ of pauperisation from the cumulative effects of the crisis which will endure even after a rebound in economic activity. Faïza Zerouala reports.

As France tentatively moves towards lifting restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic, including the re-opening of restaurants, cinemas and museums and a shorter overnight curfew, Prime Minister Jean Castex claimed the country was 'coming out of this health crisis', above all through vaccinations.

Speaking from the Portuguese city of Porto on the sidelines of an EU 'social summit', French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday accused what he called 'the Anglo-Saxons', an apparent reference to both the US and the UK, of blocking exports of anti-Covid-19 vaccines and their raw materials.

The latest edition of the French dictionary Le Petit Larousse has added an exceptional number of new words which have come into common use through the Covid-19 crisis.

A French restaurant sign announcing “It’s closed”, “Come back quickly!”. © Frédéric Scheiber/Hans Lucas/Hans Lucas via AFP

For a little more than a year now, the succession of on-off lockdowns and restrictions on public and economic activity have severely disrupted the personal and professional lives of many millions in France, notably for those placed on furlough. Mediapart asked readers to provide their personal accounts of the long months deprived of work and largely confined to their homes. Cécile Hautefeuille presents here a selection of the stories that came back; some are sad, some are funny, and nearly all have an underlining theme of a questioning of the sense of their lives and jobs.

Nursery and primary schools have reopened across France after a three-week closure in the first step out of the country’s partial lockdown.

France is currently experiencing its third lockdown as the government bets that by sacrificing the Easter holidays it can save the summer vacation period. 

France's prime minister Jean Castex said that travel restrictions will be relaxed from early next month.

French President says he foresees at least some tourists returning to Paris this summer if they have been vaccinated or have proof of testing negative for the coronavirus.

The mortuary at the Bichat hospital in Paris, January 29th 2021. © Joel Saget/AFP

While France last week passed the landmark official figure of 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, some have questioned the real significance of the disease on the deathrate of the elderly and the physically weak who, they bluntly argue, would have died sooner or later from other causes. Rozenn Le Saint turned to demographers for their insight into a clouded debate.

French doctors' unions have launched a campaign to highlight the mental stress of hospital interns amid the Covid-19 crisis, which have seen several young doctors commit suicide, as working hours during the pandemic have risen from the usual weekly 48 to 80.